Two Thursday games await Clemson football team in '13

Clemson will play two Thursday night games, including hosting one for the first time in more than 11 years, during this season's football schedule officially released Monday by the ACC.

By ERIC BOYNTONeric.boynton@shj.com

Clemson will play two Thursday night games, including hosting one for the first time in more than 11 years, and compete against three schools ranked among last year's final top 10 during this season's football schedule officially released Monday by the ACC.The Tigers open the season Aug. 31 at home against Georgia and close it Nov. 30 at South Carolina, a pair of SEC squads who finished ranked in the top 10 this past season. They also host last year's top-10 Florida State on Oct. 19. Clemson hasn't played Georgia since losing consecutive season-openers in 2002-03.The Thursday evening matchups to be nationally televised by ESPN are Sept. 19 at North Carolina State and Nov. 14 when Georgia Tech visits Death Valley. The last time Clemson hosted a Thursday night affair was Oct. 25, 2002 when the Tigers were blasted 38-6 by North Carolina State. This marks only the third time in history a Thursday night game has been held at Clemson and the second time (2002) the school has played on Thursday night twice in one season.“Having a Thursday night nationally televised home football game on ESPN will be a tremendous positive for the university,” athletic director Dan Radakovich said in a release. “As the only football game on television that night, we will have an opportunity to showcase our football and athletics program as well as our university community.“All of us within the department of athletics understand the complexities of playing host to a Thursday night game and the challenges it presents for many on campus, including professors with afternoon classes. We will work with president Jim Barker, university administrators and the appointed team to make the event a wonderful example of what Clemson University can do.”Clemson follows Georgia with South Carolina State at home and then a bye week allows for 12 days of preparation for the ACC opener against N.C. State. Last year's matchup with the Wolfpack saw the two teams combine for the second-most points ever in a Clemson game in the Tigers' 62-48 victory. Clemson has won eight of the past nine against N.C. State, but the lone loss came in its previous visit to Raleigh in 2011.After a two-game road swing at Maryland and Virginia, Clemson has a second bye week that again allows for a 12-day preparation leading up to its second Thursday night game with Georgia Tech. It's the Yellow Jackets' second consecutive season playing at Clemson and no team has visited Death Valley two years in a row since 1993-94.With the two Thursday games and a 14-week time span for the regular season, Clemson will have the oddity of not playing on four Saturdays (Sept. 14 and 21, Nov. 9 and 16). The Oct. 21 and Nov. 9 dates also have South Carolina off as well meaning there will be two Saturdays neither of the state's two biggest programs will be in action.“Thursday night games bring great exposure to your program and I am glad we do not have a quick turnaround in either situation,” Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said in a statement. “It's always exciting to get the schedule and plan out the season. It will be a challenging schedule from top to bottom with three teams that finished in the top 10 last year and those teams should be top 10 again this year.”The Tigers play Oct. 5 at the Carrier Dome in the first ACC game for Syracuse and second time the two schools have met with the initial game at the Jan. 1, 1996 Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Fla., which was won by Syracuse. Clemson won both games it had last year in a dome, defeating Auburn and LSU in the Georgia Dome.The winner between Clemson/Florida State has gone on to win the ACC Atlantic Division each of the past four years, including each taking an ACC Championship the past two seasons. The Tigers have beaten the Seminoles five consecutive times at Death Valley. Florida State has a bye week prior to this season's game.Clemson will look to snap a four-game losing streak against rival South Carolina in Columbia on Nov. 10 one week after hosting The Citadel in its final regular-season home game. It's the first time the Tigers will play a non-conference game the week before meeting USC since 1979 when they played Notre Dame. The Gamecocks host Coastal Carolina the prior week.Special game-day designations such as homecoming, parents' day and military appreciation day have yet to be determined.

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